London pre-open: Stocks seen lower ahead of inflation figures

London stocks were set for a downbeat start on Tuesday, taking their cue from a negative session in Asia as investors await key inflation data.

The FTSE 100 was expected to open 15 points lower at 7,389.

The UK retail price index, producer price index and consumer price index are all due at 0930 BST.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Today’s June CPI is expected to remain at 2.9% for the third month in succession, while retail prices (RPI) is expected to slow from 3.9% to 3.8%. Any indication that prices are likely to remain sticky could help push the pound even higher, towards 1.3300 in the coming days."

On the corporate front, British Land announced a £300m buyback, saying opportunities investment in the company's shares at the prevailing discount “offers better value than further asset acquisitions”.

Continued strong sales from Royal Mail's European parcels operation in the first quarter offset a decline from its UK business, though for the full year management did not push the envelope and kept target unchanged.

But despite continued business uncertainty in the UK, the FTSE 100 group's letters division performed better than expected, helped by the snap election.

Information services company Experian saw total revenue growth of 5% at actual exchange rates in the first quarter, it reported on Tuesday, driven by 17% growth in Latin America, 8% in North America and 5% in the EMEA/Asia Pacific region.

The company did see a 13% decline in revenue for the UK and Ireland for the three months to 30 June, however.

At constant currencies, revenue growth across the group was 6%, while organic revenue growth was reported at 4% for the period.